St. Paul Public Library offers magazines free online via Zinio

Magazines have been a main draw at the St. Paul Public Library for decades, with plenty of space set aside for patrons to peruse current and back issues for hours on end.

Now the library is going digital, with nearly 100 big-name magazines being distributed electronically at no cost. The latest issues of "Hot Rod," "The Oprah Magazine," "Men's Health" and "The Economist" will be made available as they are released for reading on computers, smartphones and tablets.

This occurs via an e-magazine service called Zinio, which is already in use by other Twin Cities public library systems. Zinio can be accessed via a variety of apps for mobile devices or within a Web browser.

The service requires an initial two-step registration process but has no subscription limits or due dates. It is available at sppl.org/research/zinio.

Zinio arrives in St. Paul amid magazine-industry struggles that recently saw the demise of "Newsweek" in printed format. The digital version of "Newsweek" endures, however, and is one of the library's offerings.